Rural areas to have permanent water quality monitoring network
By Muhammad Ali Malik

ISLAMABAD—Ministry of Science and Technology is working on a project to establish a permanent water quality monitoring network in rural areas, holding about 65% population of the country. The safe availability of water would help reduce incidence of water borne diseases and extra expenditure in health sector, said an official at the Ministry.
Talking to newsmen here Wednesday, the official said the project, costing around Rs 38.71 million, is being implemented with the main objective to monitor changes in drinking water quality, groundwater levels and document existing sewage disposal practices and to suggest remedial measures for improving the quality of water for various uses.
He said after the successful establishment of water quality monitoring network in urban areas, this project has been designed to extend the monitoring to the rural areas.
Further, on the basis of available information about quality of drinking water, water conditioning and filtration unit will be designed and installed for the provision of safe drinking water in problem areas.
He said Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is the implementing body for the project which is also aimed to design and install water conditioning and filtration units for the provision of safe drinking water, and to set-up a computer data base and link with data base of National Water Quality Monitoring Programme for preparing national water quality map using GIS facilities.
Talking about the impact of the project, the official said it would help identify quality status of water sources for drinking and associated uses in rural areas of the country covering 55 tehsils.
He said the project would also ensure safe supply of drinking water for the purpose, it has been planned to design and install pilot low cost water filtration and conditioning units in the problem areas in collaboration with local governments and non-governmental organizations.